00000023.htm

g WILLIAM II

nate Idea being, however, the cause of a great deal of bitter-
ness, which to this day has not completely faded from the
heart of the now omnipotent ruler of the German Empire.
It is undeniable that many eccentricities and false moves
on the part of William II. have been grossly exaggerated
and placed before the public in a false light, showing him
up as a conceited, bumptious and silly person, whereas not
only his state of health, but his entourage should have been
blamed for whatever he did that was out of place. Dur-
ing a great many years the young prince suffered from what
is called technically otitis media, namely, a disease of the
middle ear, very painful, exasperating and even somewhat
humiliating to endure, and which he must have inherited
in some extraordinary way from his great-uncle, King Wil-
liam IV. of Prussia, who died insane. There are certainly
some traits of resemblance between this hapless monarch
and the present occupant of the German throne, for in
both there exists and has existed the same exaggerated and
narrow-minded religious beliefs, bordering on mysticism,
and also an all-embracing faith in their absolute and un-
questionable infallibility.

It has long since become a well-anchored creed that
William IL has occasional fits of insanity. This is by no
means the case, but it must be admitted that the peculiar
malady to which I referred above, and which is as yet not
eradicated from his system, causes him, at times, days of
the most excruciating pains all over the back and side of
Ms head, and it is scarcely surprising that at such moments
the emperor should act in a way which astonishes the
uninitiated. Indeed, William II. displays extraordinary
force of character in suppressing physical agony, when the
duties he owes to the state force him to come forward when
unfit for anything else but the sick room.



	g WILLIAM II nate Idea being, however, the cause of a great deal of bitter- ness, which to this day has not completely faded from the heart of the now omnipotent ruler of the German Empire. It is undeniable that many eccentricities and false moves on the part of William II. have been grossly exaggerated and placed before the public in a false light, showing him up as a conceited, bumptious and silly person, whereas not only his state of health, but his entourage should have been blamed for whatever he did that was out of place. Dur- ing a great many years the young prince suffered from what is called technically otitis media, namely, a disease of the middle ear, very painful, exasperating and even somewhat humiliating to endure, and which he must have inherited in some extraordinary way from his great-uncle, King Wil- liam IV. of Prussia, who died insane. There are certainly some traits of resemblance between this hapless monarch and the present occupant of the German throne, for in both there exists and has existed the same exaggerated and narrow-minded religious beliefs, bordering on mysticism, and also an all-embracing faith in their absolute and un- questionable infallibility. It has long since become a well-anchored creed that William IL has occasional fits of insanity. This is by no means the case, but it must be admitted that the peculiar malady to which I referred above, and which is as yet not eradicated from his system, causes him, at times, days of the most excruciating pains all over the back and side of Ms head, and it is scarcely surprising that at such moments the emperor should act in a way which astonishes the uninitiated. Indeed, William II. displays extraordinary force of character in suppressing physical agony, when the duties he owes to the state force him to come forward when unfit for anything else but the sick room.